Connect With Life: With new laws come new challenges

Jack Barnwell Staff Writer RidgecrestDI

Thursday

Mar 29, 2018 at 6:00 AM

New laws in California — whether voter- or legislator-approved — shape how local laws will be enforced and impact communities. Everything from traffic violations to felony arrests is dictated by what lawmakers in Sacramento issue.

Some things, like reducing the level of some crimes from felony to misdemeanor offenses, have placed a strain on how officers and deputies can make arrests and how prosecutors can file charges.

For some, like Kern County's top cop, it can be frustrating.

Kern County Sheriff Youngblood said that laws passed at the state level over the last decade have hindered local law enforcement, including his organization which covers all unincorporated areas of the county.

"It goes back to when realignment [of the state prison system] happened. In the county jail you were doing about 20 percent of your time before we kicked you out due to overcrowding," Youngblood said. "Along came Prop 47 and 57, which in essence decriminalized possession of drugs and made them misdemeanors."

Assembly Bill 109, passed in 2011, required state prisons to reduce their population by a specific percentage. This, in turn, transferred inmates who were convicted of low-level, nonviolent offenses to county jails. County jails had to become more flexible. Propositions 47 (approved by voters in 2014) reduced certain offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and 57 (approved by voters in 2016) adjusted parole considerations for nonviolent felons.

Youngblood and other law enforcement leaders have strongly opposed new state laws and regulations which they say have a direct correlation with increased crime rates.

A UC Irvine study contradicts this, noting the laws are having their intended effect on reducing inmate population and recidivism and rehabilitating felons.

But Youngblood noted these laws aren't deterring drug-related crimes and impacting officers' abilities to do their jobs.

"What you're seeing now is that officers and deputies aren't even wasting their time for someone who is in possession of a small amount of heroin or meth," Youngblood said. "If you're in Ridgecrest, are you going to drive them all the way to Bakersfield only to have them released again?"

This, in turn, leads to increased property crimes — car and house burglaries, thefts, and related crimes — in the community.

"Drug addicts — heroin and meth addicts —fund their habits through property crimes, and the citizens are the victims," Youngblood said. "There is a direct nexus to those property crimes and the possession of heroin and meth."

Property crimes are in turn impacting deputies' response to pursuits, he said. "There isn't a day that goes by where I don't hear a pursuit in the county and sergeants having to call it off because it's for a misdemeanor and they don't want people to get hurt."

Legalized marijuana a continued concern

With Prop. 64 legalizing the use and commercialization of recreational marijuana, things have become more complex in enforcing laws, according to Youngblood.

For decades, only medical marijuana was legal in California; things changed in 2016 when voters approved a ballot measure to legalize it across the board. The Golden State followed a trend seen in other states like Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state, and in Washington, D.C., hoping both to regulate and profit from the tax revenue it could possibly generate.

But there are other issues that are causing concerns as it crops up, according to Youngblood.

"There is no benefit, either way, you go with marijuana," Youngblood said. "Marijuana is not going away — you can ban it, but you still have it; you can regulate it — and you're going to have it."

People can consume cannabis products for medicinal use (for those 18 and older with a medical card or prescription) or recreational use (for those 21 years and older), with all the normal restrictions in regard to smoking public spaces and restaurants. Additionally, people can't drive while under the influence and would be treated the same as drunk driving or under the influence of certain prescription drugs.

Adults can also grow up to six plants for personal use in their own homes, and possess up to one ounce for personal use on their persons. Otherwise, California has rules in place to watch the budding industry like a hawk.

Prop. 64 also allowed counties and cities to decide how to regulate the sale and commercial cultivation locally before a 2018 deadline. Kern County instituted an overall ban on the sale and cultivation of medical and commercial marijuana; current authorized medical dispensaries were given a year to wind down operations.

The City of Ridgecrest took the same approach, banning commercial cultivation and sale in city limits, and allowing procurement through authorized entities like a hospital only for medical use.

California City went the other direction, deciding to legalize the cultivation of crops within certain areas of city limits. Cal City began issuing permits to people to start construction, hoping to cash in on the taxes — even putting out a ballot initiative to tax cultivation in hopes that it would provide revenue for city services.

However, Youngblood noted even if states regulate cannabis, it's still a federal offense to possess it. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which "have a high potential for abuse and the potential to create severe psychological and/or physical dependence." It shares the category with other controlled substances like heroin, ecstasy and LSD.

"I refuse to involve myself in regulating and conspiring to commit a federal felony until Congress decides to reschedule marijuana, I'm just in a rock and a hard spot," Youngblood said. "There is no real answer until Congress decides this will be a felony and no one will do this or reschedule it."

Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. Attorney General's office relaxed enforcement of marijuana laws in states that had legalized and regulated the drug. Under President Donald Trump, current AG Jeff Sessions has made promises to step up enforcement of major infractions and conspiracy, especially against those who import marijuana from Mexico.

"It's a criminal enterprise with a lot of money involved, and it's all done from a suitcase because it's a cash business, and with that much cash, people can get hurt," Youngblood said. "We've already seen homicides in the dispensaries in Bakersfield for people who do this business."

Cal City would be another example. While cultivation has been legalized, Cal City police have in the last four months alone have had to crack down on illegal grows, seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of plants, and making arrests.

Then there are concerns testing drivers who are high on marijuana products. There are no reliable methods to test for THC — marijuana's active ingredient — in someone's system.

"THC stays in your system for a lengthy period of time — days — so when you test for THC to see if someone is impaired, it's difficult to tell," Youngblood said. "They might not have smoked for three days, or they might have smoked it 15 minutes earlier."

He added until there is a "true, sophisticated measuring device to say how much is in your system" to have an impact, they have to go with roadside sobriety tests, which he said are subjective at best.

Youngblood noted there are direct correlations between serious and fatal traffic incidents in states that have legalized marijuana ahead of California.

"If you look at Colorado, their emergency rooms are up because of DUIs and not winning cases," Youngblood said.

Another concern is the strength of modern day marijuana strains.

"This is not your 1968 marijuana," Youngblood said. "This is really some heavy-duty stuff, probably 18 or 20 times more potent, and in my opinion, it's not going to be good for us at the end of the day, or any other substance for that matter."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.